Glitter Baby

By: Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Narrated by: Julia Gibson

Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Fleur Savagar is the most beautiful woman in the world . . . to everyone but herself. With her oversized hands and paddle-boat feet, her streaky blond hair and funny green eyes, she lives a life filled with secrets that began before she was born. That was when her bewitching mother left home to find James Dean and met Errol Flynn instead. Now Fleur has to grow up quickly, and life won't make that easy.

Jake Koranda is both New York's most brilliant playwright and Hollywood's hottest actor. Difficult, talented, and tormented, he has no patience for international glamour girls, not even ones with beautiful bodies and smart-aleck mouths. But there's more to the Glitter Baby than shine, and Fleur's tougher than Jake expects. Even with the odds stacked against her, she's fiercely determined to discover the woman she's destined to be. An ugly duckling who can't believe she's turned into a swan . . . A tough-guy movie star with a haunted past . . . In a land of broken dreams, can two unlikely lovers trust their hearts?

©2009 Susan Elizabeth Phillips (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

Worst SEP book ever

Would you try another book from Susan Elizabeth Phillips and/or Julia Gibson?

I've bought several SEP books and love them for their wit and romance. Five hours of listening and I haven't encountered either. It's not necessarily bad, but it's not good either. It is NOTHING like the previous books in the so-called series (I have no idea why it's even listed as part of the series) and it's nothin like her Stars Series either.

What was most disappointing about Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s story?

There is NO humor like most of her books. Plus, the book randomly stops to play some 70's porn like music.

Did Julia Gibson do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

The narrator wasn't bad.

What would have made this romance irresistible?

Cut out the first two hours of back story and add the humor we're use to seeing in SEP books.

Any additional comments?

Don't waste the credit. I saw some bad reviews and thought it couldn't be that bad, but yes, it IS THAT bad. And I'm only half way through it. Hopefully it will improve.

Could read over and over!

This story is extremely well developed. Each character is intriguing.Keeps you wanting to listen more. Wonderful reading.

The music that kept popping in got really annoying

I think this could have been a 4 or even 4 1/2 star book if there was a different narrator, Anna Fields, for example. And annoying music kept repeating throughout the entire book that didn’t add anything to the story. If I compare this book to Fancy Pants there is no comparison in my opinion.

Another SEP Winner

This is an old book that SEP updated and re-released. It is easy to "read", funny at times, sad, sexy and traditional SEP - a great read. Unlike other authors that I've read that have rereleased older books, SEP does this one in a way that makes it seem like she wrote it recently (though I liked the old version too). If you like SEP, you can't go wrong.

PS Good choice for the narrator. I was curious who could possibly narrate after the fabulous Kate Fleming / Anna Fields. Julia Gibson does a nice job. I've enjoyed her work with Catherine Anderson as well.

I loved this book.

There are TWO VERSIONS of this book. Glitter Baby was first published in 1987. The version I read was published in 2009 and includes changes made by the author. I recently listened to the audiobook which was released in December, 2008. I’m pretty sure it is the revised book.

AUDIOBOOK:
The narrator Julia Gibson was excellent, but someone inserted 20 seconds of music periodically during the reading. The music was ok but the placement was terrible. Most of the time it was in the middle of a scene or middle of a conversation. It should have been placed between scenes or when the setting changed. This was not-good production.

STORY BRIEF:
Fleur is the most beautiful woman in the world. Her parents are among the worst. Fleur reluctantly becomes a model and an actress at the request of her mother. Jake is a brilliant playwright and Hollywood’s hottest actor. Jake does not want to use Fleur in his movie, but the director hires her. She is 19 and he is 28. That is how they meet. The main story is about Fleur who is living a glamorous life, and then has nothing, then amazingly brings herself back to the world, developing brains, strength and relationships along the way. She also must handle and fight through tough obstacles.

The first 57 pages of the book are about Belinda, Fleur’s mother, who is not fun to read about. Belinda is beautiful, superficial and manipulative. The story gets better once Fleur is in the picture. One of the tragedies in Fleur’s life is having Belinda as a mother.

OPINION:
After the first 57 pages, I did not want to put the book down. The book has a happy and fulfilling ending. I was so emotionally drawn into the characters and events. The author takes her time to develop intriguing and complex characters. This book was longer than most romance novels.

As I reread this in 2014 I was reminded of how good this kind of writing is when compared to many New Adult books. Glitter Baby has a lot of angst that is good, because the angst is from character conflicts. Too many New Adult books have most of their angst within the main character’s head - like “I’m damaged. I’m no good for anyone. I hurt people close to me.” Many New Adult books have too much wallowing in self pity. In Glitter Baby, she hits the bottom and suffers, but she takes interesting action and does neat things.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 429 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words but not often used. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 13, half of them are briefly referred to with no details. Setting: From 1955 to the mid 1980s in New York City, Southern California, France and other locations. Genre: contemporary romance.

Disappointed

I was really disappointed with this story. I loved the other stories by this author, but this one is nothing like the rest; no humor, unbelieveable characters, tedious and boring part of the time. I had to make myself finish it. Pick a different story, you'll get more for your money.

Another winner

SEP never fails to write a great journey and glitterbaby is no exception. Reminded me a bit of Fancy Pants.

Great story - weird music breaks

The story was great and the narration well done but there were random music breaks - right in the middle of a scene. Please remove - very annoying!

Great book

I loved the story but was not a fan of the break music. Sounded like bad porn music.

All that Glitters is not Gold

The author of this book is one of my favorites, and this book is very well written. However it can make you sick to your stomache. If your expecting a love story, it isn't. It's about two parents holding secrects so sickening, and using their daughter as a yo-yo between them, making money off of her and putting her in positions that no parent who actually loved their child would do. It's placed in the past of the old glamourous hollywood, and this girl is used and abused in the most disgusting situations. My stomach became sick. again it's well written and probably has more truth in it than what we would want to believe. But it's tough on the nerves.